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Mega Millions jackpot at $685 million; drawing Friday night

CBS News Live
CBS News Chicago Live

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The last Mega Millions jackpot of the year is a big one. The jackpot is up to an estimated $685 million, the second-largest Mega Millions prize of the year.

There were no winning tickets sold for Tuesday night's $565 million Mega Millions jackpot so the grand prize for the next drawing, on Friday night, will be at least $685 million, the game's website says. That number could rise if enough tickets are sold.

The cash option would be approximately $348 million before taxes.

The $685 million would be the fourth-largest winning jackpot in Mega Millions history, the lottery said, adding that it's "by far the largest Mega Millions prize ever offered in the final week of any year, and could provide someone with a very happy New Year's celebration."

The winning numbers drawn on Tuesday night were 9, 13, 36, 59 and 61, with a "Mega Ball" of 11.

The last time a Mega Millions jackpot was won was on Oct. 14, when two tickets sold in California and Florida shared a $502 million prize, according to the release.

There have been 21 drawings since then.  

This past July, a ticket sold in Illinois won the second-largest Mega Millions jackpot ever, a whopping $1.337 billion. Mega Millions' largest ever jackpot was $1.537 billion, won in South Carolina in October 2018.

Last month, a single winning Powerball ticket was sold in California for a $2.04 billion jackpot, the largest in lottery history.

The $685 million is what a winner who takes the annuity option would get. That's paid out over 30 annual installments. But winners usually choose the cash option.

Federal taxes are taken out and, depending on where the winner lives, state taxes are, too.

And jackpots are split when more than one winning ticket is sold.

The odds of winning the Mega Millions jackpot are a staggering one in 302.6 million.  

Mega Millions is played in 45 states as well as Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

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